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The Neon Rain Audiobook
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(4.00) - 7,017 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
New York Times best-selling author James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels began with this first hard-hitting entry in the series. In The Neon Rain, Detective Robicheaux fishes a prostitute's corpse from a New Orleans bayou and finds that no one, not even the law, cares about a dead hooker. "One of Burke's best."-New York Times Book Review
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"I've been a fan of James Lee Burke's detective, Dave Robicheaux, for many years. I've picked up an audio book at the library or bookstore whenever I happened upon a title. So, I've read them in no particular order, always being able to follow the narrative. Neon Rain, where we are first introduced to Robicheaux, brings the many subsequent novels into a more orderly sequence and helps us see a more rounded picture of the character. I've listened to audio books for many years and Will Patton, as a narrator, is probably at the top of my list. Between Burke's ability to word-paint a bayou so vivid that you can see and smell it and Patton's effecting a cajun drawl, the mist and storms and heat become alive in your imagination. You can "see" and "smell" everything. So...no surprise, I'm a fan and eagerly await each new publication!!"
— penelope (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Dialogue that’s so right, so real, so true to the personality you’d swear the guys were right there in the room with you; and a setting…that’s so vivid you can feel the heaviness in the air, see the heat lightning, and taste the sauce piquante.”
— Washington Post Book World -
"Burke writes with honesty and tough compassion….An intelligent and intriguing story of greed, vengeance, and the precarious redemptive qualities of love.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“The war-brought-home is among the most important themes running through Burke’s Robicheaux series…The scourge of alcoholism chases after him, too, and Burke handles the subject as well as any novelist alive. But it’s the landscape—topographical and political—that most bedevils his hero. The bayous of Louisiana are a close cousin to those of Vietnam, and those murky waters seem designed to conjure up difficult memories for Robicheaux.”
— Crime Reads -
“Bloody, rip-snorting suspense…Fine scenes that fairly crackle with menace.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“With its fine local color and driving action, this novel is both chilling and first-rate entertainment.”
— Publishers Weekly
Awards
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A Crime Reads Pick of Crime Novels Exploring the Vietnam War Aftermath
The Neon Rain Listener Reviews
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Daniel Bennett, 9/1/2020
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frances, 6/6/2017
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Thomas Sawyers, 12/20/2016
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" James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series is probably one of my all time favourite series and I tend to listen to them on CD because the reading is fantastic, or to put it another way, it is the best listening experience I have had with any book or series. However, I digress. I decided to start from the beginning, I have following Dave and Clete for many years now and I decided to go back to the first book to remember what it was like and why I have become such a huge fan. As I expected, I was not disappointed. I highly recommend James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series, caution, one gets easily attached. "
— Jennifer, 2/9/2014 -
" While he does write beautifully and I love reading about New Orleans. This one was just a little too gritty for me. I like Robicheaux but I started with a book later in the series. He is a flawed but genial character. In this phase of the series he seems to be competing with the bad guys to destroy himself. It is not a very pretty contest. "
— Jeanean, 2/9/2014 -
" I appreciated the straight forward style of Burke's writing. He gets the right details in the story and doesn't over work them, creating three dimensional characters with a sparity of words. Robicheaux comes to life as more than a gritty cop. I appreciated the characters for their imperfections as much as anything else when the story ended. "
— Lisa, 1/27/2014 -
" This is Burke's first book about Det.Robicheaux. Since I have not read them in sequence, I'm now reading the earlier books to "fill in the blanks." I do love this author's style of writing. Can't wait to read the rest. "
— Carole, 1/24/2014 -
" Wonderful writing, almost pure poetry. Not quite enough plot, for a mystery. "
— Paul, 1/11/2014 -
" Not sure on this book.First in a series and couldn't quite get to grips with it - might read the next in the series and see how it goes. "
— Pauline, 11/26/2013 -
" hi dave! what's that? you hear something in your head that sounds like wet newspaper ripping? uh-oh, that doesn't sound good. i think a certain vietnam-scarred, semi-recovering alcoholic cop we all know and love is about to start some t-r-o-u-b-l-e down in new orleans... "
— Bernadette, 11/24/2013 -
" I'm a sucker for a James Lee Burke novel. Total escapism and a lovely descriptive way of writing that transports you to New Iberia and new Orleans and makes you want to be there. My Dad recommended the Dave Robicheaux series and I'm hooked. "
— Hlawton75, 11/19/2013 -
" I loved it. But I love all his books. "
— Andrea, 11/1/2013 -
" Have been waiting a long time to read this one - hard to find on the shelves... off to a really good start. "
— Kavita, 10/8/2013 -
" All the Dave Robicheaux books are a journey into the dark swamp of human guilt, regret and anguish. This isn't necessarily the bad thing that perhaps it sounds. Burke writes with a white hot passion, and his journey has a lot to teach about the human spirit. "
— John, 10/8/2013 -
" Wonderful poetic voice, and interesting in terms of how an alcoholic *might* think. Some of the plot bothered me (confusing, eclipsing the reader), but the language was the most captivating aspect of the novel. "
— Lauren, 10/7/2013 -
" I liked the descriptions of New Orleans and got a good feel of what that area is like. The violence though was absurd to me. From one fight to another with guns, bags of bolts and torture made me think that the book was just a vehicle for violence not writing. "
— Bobbie, 7/10/2012 -
" I just reread (listened to Will Patton read) THE NEON RAIN which I probably read about 20 years ago or so. Loved it--the prose as beautiful today as I believed it to be years ago when I first encountered James Lee Burke and Dave R. "
— Wilma, 12/16/2010 -
" Way over-written but that's half the fun. Local color and conspiracy drive a solid start to the series. "
— David, 12/10/2010 -
" I loved the references to Wichita and the Mennonites. I didn't know that Burke was a professor at Wichita State in the 80s. "
— Jason, 10/17/2010 -
" These Burke books are great summer reads. This is actually the first of the Dave Robicheaux books and I wish I'd read them in order. "
— Jeremy, 9/28/2010 -
" I am not sure I am a fan. It is such a dark book. Nothing happy happens. "
— Mariola, 11/23/2009 -
" Robicheaux is a wonderful character, and I now pick up every one of Burke's books because I enjoyed this, the first. As an extra observation, I like the 'darkness' in his style. Gritty would be another word for it. "
— Neil, 8/4/2009
About James Lee Burke
James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author of forty novels and two short-story collections. He has won the Edgar Award, the CWA Gold Dagger, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policièr. He was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. His novel The Lost-Get Back Boogie was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and two of his books, Heaven’s Prisoners and Two for Texas, have been made into motion pictures.
About Will Patton
Will Patton is an award-winning actor and narrator. HIs narrations have earned the prestigious Audie Award for Best Fiction Narration and also won dozens of AudioFile Earphones Awards. His numerous film credits include Remember the Titans, The Punisher, The Mothman Prophesies, Armageddon, and The Spitfire Grill. He starred in the TNT miniseries Into the West and on the CBS series The Agency and won Obie Awards in the theater for his performances in Fool for Love and What Did He See.